CAPTURE THE BEST OF AUTUMN

Seize the opportunities presented by the new season, and capture amazing photos with these creative and fun projects. Dan Mold shows you how to get the most out of autumn, both outdoors and at home

- Dan Mold

There's no season quite as colourful and photogenic as autumn. With tree leaves turning into an amazing kaleidoscope of colours from vibrant yellows to grungey oranges and fiery reds, there's no better time to get out into the great outdoors and inject some of nature's fantastic colour palette into your images. At this time of year, the sun also sits lower in the sky, so the golden hour, which occurs in the hour preceding sunset or after sunrise, lasts for a little longer, and will bathe your landscape scenes in a wider range of incredibly rich, warm tones.

Whether it's capturing the incredible shifts in colours in landscape scenes fun family portraits of kids jumping in puddles and leaves, or even shooting still-lifes of leaves and seasonal veg, such as pumpkins, there's a wide range of creative projects that you can try out, whether you want to get out and explore the great outdoors, or stay in and practise your camera stills at home.

In this feature we'll look at a brilliant mix of projects that you can try out, all of which take full advantage of this wonderfully photogenic season - from photographing waterfalls in woodlands to capturing artistic mushroom shots with a macro lens, staking out your garden for hedgehogs on the prowl at night, and still-life setups. Pick a project that takes your fancy, grab your camera, and get shooting!

1 GET THE RIGHT GEAR

Start sourcing the kit bag essentials for top autumn shots